Arkansas Farmers Submit Petition to Reject Potential Dicamba Ban

A group of Arkansas farmers who planted roughly 34 percent of the state’s soybean crop has filed a petition in response to a proposed ban on using dicamba products after April 15.

The Dicamba Task force assembled by government leaders recently proposed the ban and the farmers say they want in-season access to the technology. The farmers say they’ve seen first-hand the success of the dicamba technology in controlling pigweeds.

They’ve also been “very impressed by the significant improvements in yield.” The petition drive started on September 15 and represents farmers from 22 Arkansas counties. An Ag Web Dot Com report says farmers who’ve signed the petition say the proposed ban would cause financial losses to farmers because other pigweed control systems aren’t as effective as the dicamba technology.

They also say farmers were not adequately represented on the Dicamba Task Force. Pigweed is a major problem in Arkansas and the group doesn’t want Arkansas to be the only state in the south not using dicamba. They propose a May 25 cutoff date and a one-mile buffer zone as solutions that would reduce or eliminate all soybean injury that occurred this year.